A Hero
by Rebeku95
Summary: This is a translation of my other story "Un Héroe". Sets at the beginning of 1st season. What if Elena met Stefan on his "Rippah" phase, if Damon when he goes to Mystic Falls to take Kat out of the tomb found her in the basement almost unconscious. Delen
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Kidnapping

"Elena, stop annoying me!" yelled Jeremy while he slammed the door shut.

"Very well, Jer! That's pretty mature!" I shouted uselessly at the closed door. I couldn't believe it. It had been four months since the tragic accident. I was shattered. I had taken antidepressants and that stuff but I wasn't fine though. Yet, I had to give my little brother a model to follow. Model that he had decided to ignore to get into the drugs world. I found out about this today evening. I tried to reason with him, tell him that's not the way but he decided to turn the deaf ear and get angry with me.

'Perfect' I thought. 'What's next?'

I sighed. I still was staring at Jeremy's bedroom door. "I need fresh air." Without a second thought, I grabbed my jacket, my cell, the keys and my iPod. I went downstairs and checked if Jenna was at home. "Aunt Jenna?" I called. No answer. Sighing I made my way to the kitchen and I wrote on the blog that was on the fridge:

_I've gone for a walk. I'll be back soon. Xoxo_

_Elena._

Written the note to my aunt, I got out the house. Outside, it still wasn't cold because it was September. I breathed the nocturne air and set my iPod on shuffle. The first song it played was _My Hero_ by Foo Fighters. A hero. That was what I needed. A hero to take me away from the nightmare that my life had become. All these months had passed like a blur of depression, solitude and pain where I hadn't realized what happened around me. If I could escape from this feeling for a while… Just a little while.

I kept walking through the dark street absently. 'If this was a horror film, I'd start hearing noises, watching weird shadows and having the weird feeling that someone is following me'. I thought smiling.

Right then, on the corner of my eye, I swear I saw something moving. I turned around fast by I saw nothing. I took off one of my iPod's phone to listen better to what there was around me. Nothing. Surely it just was… wait, what was that? I took off the other phone and I watched out intently. I'd swear I heard a branch breaking among the trees my street overlooked to. I looked in that direction and as my eyes settled on those trees I saw something moving very quickly. Though it was so fleeting that I wasn't hundred per cent sure of seeing it.

'OK, Elena. I think it's time to get back home to your depressing life and _safe_'. The last thing I remember was that I turned around and right then I sank into the most absolute unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When I woke up, I wasn't sure where I was. I didn't recognize that place at all because of the darkness. I was lying on a sort of bench of stone (very uncomfortable, I should say) in a room that I could only describe as a _cell_. Although they didn't look like Mystic Falls' Police Station's cells. Not because I had been there, but because it simply looked too old to be a Police Station. I was a bit anxious, well terrified would be a better term: how had I got in there? When I moved, I heard a tinkling noise that made my hair stand on the end. I looked at my arms and I was horrified when I discovered I was chained to the bench. The chains were old and heavy. I had no idea of how I couldn't realize they were there before, because now they were all I could see clearly.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a noise outside the cell. It seemed that somebody was approaching. My first instinct was calling that somebody for help, but… what if that somebody was the one that brought me here? I heard how someone bolted the door I haven't noticed before and that looked (like everything) old. It was wooden and it had on a par with eyes a small window with some iron bars. I tried to move, but I didn't want my visitor to be aware of my presence and the tinkle from the chains would just betray me, so I stayed completely still and watching with half-open eyes who was that stranger.

"I see you're awakened". A male voice said which belonged to my visitor. It was a smooth, melodic voice but with a cold edge that gave me the creeps. I felt my pulse accelerate. "Yeah, definitively awakened." The man said, like if… like if he could hear my pulse I thought with a chill. He cocked his head, amusing himself with my reaction.

"Who are you?" I got whisper.

"Oh, it's true. How rude from me!" He said smiling. "My name's Stefan Salvatore and I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you." He said with a sing-song voice. _Have fun with me?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean? Stefan interrupted my thoughts. "Now I think it's your turn to tell me you name, isn't it?" He said with a smile on his face.

"I-I-I…am E-E-Elena." I said with a shaky voice. My whole body seemed to be trembling in response to his words.

"So Elena, hum? I expected some other thing but anyways… Katherine always surprises me. The question is how it is possible" He seemed absorbed in his thoughts, barely aware of my existence. I didn't dare to say a word but my mind was thinking deeply. Katherine? Who the hell was Katherine and what had she to do with me? And, please, how was what possible? He, while that, kept going with his monologue: "Of course, you're not Katherine. You're human… well, that doesn't really matter, right _Elena_?" Another chill ran down my spine. "You and I are gonna have a lot of fun." And another one. "Stand up."

I tried to stand up. I swear I tried, but I wasn't able to. "I-I-I can't…" The next second I was on my feet, with Stefan grabbing my arms tightly. Now I could see his features thanks to the faint light from the corridor. He had pale skin, but not too much. Brown hair, green eyes, protruding jaw and his lips curved in a devilish grin. My eyes wide open because of the impression and the fear. When he spoke, he did it barely above the whisper, which made the blood in my veins freeze.

"One thing you should know", he began, "is that if I tell you to do something, you do it. Got it?" I nodded, because I didn't feel able to say a word out. His grin widened and added: "Well, more things: I ask you a question, you answer telling the truth and _speaking_. Got it?" I nodded again. "Sorry, I can't hear you." I kept staring at him. I knew I had to say a 'yes' or a 'I get it', but I couldn't. Right then I saw his eyes darkened, dark, pulsating veins appeared below his eyes; and when he opened his mouth it revealed some horribly long fangs. It took me a few seconds to assimilate what I was seeing and what it meant (I didn't mind how insane it seemed): vampire. That was when I tried to escape. I struggled with my whole strength. I screamed, fought, kicked and punched him, but all of this was useless to get rid of that monster's grip. In some moment while I was fighting, my back hit the wall. Stefan's hands on each side of my face. I was cornered.

I tried to keep fighting, but it was useless. He was much stronger than me. He was still watching me with his fangs extended and an amused expression. He was enjoying it.

Then he bit me.

I even didn't see it coming. Suddenly he had his fangs in my throat and it hurt. It seemed like each square inch of my body was being stabbed with burning daggers, like my entrails were being ripped from me while I still was conscious. I kept struggling, but he drank too fast and the blood loss weakened me pretty soon. It was over. I was going to die. I had it as clear as the Sun existed. That was going to be my finale. Little by little and painfully, I sliced into the comfortable darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When I woke up, the darkness that surrounded me didn't surprise me. I wasn't on the bench, but I was on a cinch on the floor. I still was chained, of course; and I felt a pulsating pain on my neck, a terrible headache… my whole body hurt. My arms and legs felt heavy and making the slightest movement meant the consumption of all my energy, and it wasn't a lot.

Suddenly, I remembered what happened before I fainted. Stefan. Stefan Salvatore. He had brought me here. He had said he was going to have a lot of _fun_ with me. He also said something about a certain Katherine that I didn't know what the hell she had to do with me and with what was going on. Lastly, I remembered the bite, the fangs, the dark, pulsating veins below his eyes; the red eyes, like the blood he took from me. The simple memory made me tremble with fear.

How could I get into this mess? Seriously? Vampires? The only thing I wanted was to go for a breath of fresh air. I never said anything about vampires or kidnappings. Because that was a kidnapping with no doubt. Was it so difficult to have a normal life? Okay, maybe it wouldn't be a life with my parents, but I could live a normal life with aunt Jenna and Jeremy, right? Well, now because of a vampire's whim, it isn't like that. Why? Why me? Had I made something wrong in my old life? Because if I did, I swear that I don't remember it…

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard something at the other side of the door. No, not again, please. I didn't have the strength for another attack, I didn't have strength for anything. I could barely keep my eyes open, so if he asked me to talk, or worse, to stand up and do something, he'd attack me again and then I'd be definitively dead. I was surprised that I was still alive. I doubted that next time he'd be so benevolent.

I kept my eyes shut and tried to look as relaxed as possible. It was easy; my pulse was very weak, so he could believe I was asleep so I could win a few hours for myself more or less away from that monster. I heard the door bolting and opening. I couldn't hear Stefan's footsteps, but I was sure he was there. I kept quiet, listening intently to every noise that took place around me.

"Wow" he mused, "you're still alive. Thank God, because I hadn't had the chance to play with you yet." I held back a chill that fought to run through my whole body and kept breathing slowly. "Though it seems it'll pass a little of time until you wake up". He finished.

The next thing I heard was the door being closed and bolted from outside the cell.

He was gone. I almost could believe it. I had got it. I had deceived to him. I had gotten a few hours before he got back to recover. While I celebrated silently my little victory, my mind started working in an escape plan. I was sure that Stefan would kill me sooner or later but I wasn't going to stay to find it out.

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><p>AN: So guys thank you for the beautiful reviews. This chapter has been pretty short, I know. But chapter 4 is already written and I promise you it's much longer than the last ones. As soon as I translate it, it'll be up. :) Tell me what you think about it.<p>

Thanks, Rebeku95.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

3rd person's POV

Stefan went upstairs. How was possible that this little human was the spitting image of Katherine? How?

It had been 145 years since she died. 145 of suffering, thinking that because of him the love of his life had died; wasting away by her memory, watching that old picture, like if he thought because of the mere fact of watching it intently for a while she would appear from nowhere. Well, that was what had happened… more or less.

What if that human locked up in his basement's cell was Katherine? No, that was impossible. But… what if she had found out a way to turn back to human and she was just playing with him? Katherine knew a lot of witches. Who knows if one of them had discovered the formula to reverse the process of that eternal curse. But that wasn't possible as well. Not just because it was impossible that a vampire could be human again, but because Katherine loved being a vampire, a monster of the dark, the speed, the strength, the hunt, the blood, messing up with human thoughts… Katherine was the definition of a real vampire. She wouldn't like being weak and human again. That and much more, was why that little girl in his basement was _not_ Katherine. But he was sure of something. That _little girl_ reminded him too much of Katherine. Because of that he hated her. Because of that he wanted to punish her. And he was going to enjoy it a lot. With an evil smile he went out the house to hunt… humans, of course. He had turned it off when he laid his eyes down on the unconscious girl in his basement for the first time.

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><p>Damon entered in the boarding house for the first time in… many, many years. Everything was practically the same, except the electric installation, TV and other advances of the time. A quick look was enough for him to know Stefan wasn't there. He still could smell him all over the house. While he inspected the living room with a bit of nostalgia, a metallic sparkle caught his attention. An iPod. He narrowed eyes. Stefan… always trying to integrate. He wondered if he listened to Taylor Swift. With a little of curiosity, he connected the iPod to some speakers near and turned up the volume. He was surprised when he heard a rock band which name according to the machine was The Pretty Reckless and who now played a song called 'Make Me Wanna Die' Was Stefan still with that horrible grunge look? Seriously? The last time he checked him he almost looked normal...<p>

'Bah' he thought, 'who cares about what Saint Stefan does?' If he wanted to be all retro back to the 60s with its hippies, its joints and its free love, good for him. The truth be told, the only good thing of the 60s was the free love. It meant sex and blood with no prejudices.

Now we're talking about blood, that was what he needed in that moment, blood. He doubted that Stefan had blood bags in the fridge or in the basement, but he lost nothing trying.

_Taste me, drink my soul_

_Show me all the things that I shouldn't know…_

The song was certainly dark, not the kind that fit with Steffy. The truth is that he was starting to like the song. Maybe… A voice interrupted his thoughts:

"_You make me wanna die; I'll never be good enough… You make me wanna die_"

It seemed that someone was humming the song. And it came from the cell in the basement. Curious, he headed towards the cell to discover there was a girl inside it. A girl. What the hell was a girl doing locked up in the basement? Carefully he bolted the door and opened the door. The girl pretended being asleep, but it was impossible to believe it because of her accelerated pulse and the scent of the adrenaline all over the room. It was obvious she was afraid. Was it possible that Stefan would have kidnapped this little girl to…? To what? One more quick look was enough for him to see she was chained. That had less sense.

Little by little, Damon approached the girl. He knelt and removed the locks that covered her face. Katherine. No, no. That wasn't possible. "But what…?" was all he managed to say. When the world was so cruel since? How was it possible that that girl was the exact image of the woman he loved 145 years ago, and still did? He decided that it wasn't the moment to make questions and decided to take care of the poor girl on front of him.

With his fingertips, he stroked her face. The only thing that the gesture caused was that she closed her eyes more and a few tears escaped from her eyelids. "I know you're awakened." Damon limited to say, now with a tone more controlled. With that, her eyes suddenly opened. At first, she seemed surprised, then relieved and then mistrustful.

"And Stefan?" She managed to ask with a weak voice.

"He's gone." He said. "He'll be back in a while."

"And who are you?"

"Damon Salvatore to serve you."

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously while her pulse accelerated.

"Are you also… you know… a vampire?" Her voice broke as he said the last word.

"Instead of talking, why don't I take you out of here?" He said changing the subject.

"You could?" She said with her big brown eyes full of hope and wide open.

"Of course." He said smiling. He stood up and worked on the chains. In a few seconds she was unchained and he was carrying her in his arms, because she couldn't walk.

Once they were upstairs, he set her carefully on the couch. "You still haven't told me your name." He whispered.

She smiled weakly. "I'm Elena Gilbert."

"Well, Elena Gilbert, are you hungry?" Right then, her stomach growled in response. She just smiled a little. "It wasn't necessary to be like that." Elena giggled a little. "What do you want?"

"I'll settle with anything that can be eaten." She answered.

"Hmm… I'll check if we have something of that, but I doubt it." Quickly he stood up and headed towards the kitchen, but there was absolutely nothing to cook. That was weird; Saint Stefan always bought food and did anything possible to integrate among humans. 'Yeah, as weird as keep locked up in the house basement the replica of the woman you loved 145 years ago, right?' A voice inside his head said. Well that didn't matter. Damon tried to focus on what concerned him. Food. He needed it for Elena. And there wasn't any. "There's no food", he yelled to Elena. "Wanna ask for a pizza or go out to a restaurant?"

There was a moment of silence before Elena answered.

"I think I prefer you ask for a pizza."

"With which ingredients?" Damon asked while he got back to the living room.

Elena hesitated. "Hmm… I don't know. What do you like?"

Damon glanced at her saying 'seriously?' "You're the one who's starving. You pick."

"Yeah, I see, well… then… tuna, bacon and cheese with extra cheese… if you don't mind." She added shyly. Damon melted inside.

"Sure." He said with a reassuring smile. He took his phone from his pocket and called the pizzeria. Once the pizza was ordered, everything went silent. Suddenly Damon thought that Stefan could come back in any moment and it'd be better to keep Elena hidden from him. The best thing would be that Elena was away from the boarding house, but she was clearly too weak to go out. "Umm… Elena." He began, "I think it'd be better if you went to my room. You know, if Stefan comes back…" His brother's mention made her eyes open wide with fear. She just nodded and tried to stand up by herself too quickly, which made her lose her balance and fall. But Damon, thanks to his fast reflexes, caught her just before her body hit the floor. They were like that for a few seconds, until Elena got het breath back.

"Thanks." She managed to say.

"If you want, I can carry you in my arms." He said in a seductive tone.

She tried to break out of his arms.

"I think I will be able to go by myself." This time, Damon allowed her to incorporate, though he kept one arm on her waist, just in case.

Carefully, Damon guided Elena through the huge mansion to his bedroom. If Elena hadn't been so weak, she would have admired a little more the beauty of the place.

Damon's bedroom was, like everything in that house, huge. It had a (huge) king sized bed, books, paintings, a TV screen and a big bathroom. "Wow" was all that Elena could say.

"If you want, you take a shower or a bath. I'll be downstairs until you're done, ok?"

Elena suspected a litte. The bathroom had no door. So if Damon decided to come in, nothing would keep him from watching her naked. On the other hand, she had no more options; she needed a shower after God knows how much time in that cell. "Okay." She finally said. "I trust you."

Damon was very surprised and he stayed there a second more than he should have, saying nothingm staring at her. Then, abruptly he turned around and got out of the bedroom. All the time that Elena was in the shower he put all his efforts trying not to think of the naked girl in his shower.


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N.: Well the first thing I wanted to say is sorry for the lateness. My parents don't allow me to have the laptop on the weekdays and when I have it, I'm on the Internet all the time, so I didn't have too much time to translate. **

**Another thing I wanted to say is that if I don't get more reviews I'll delete this story and I'll simply upload in Spanish. Because it's a lot of effort to write the same thing twice, looking in the dictionary for the best way to say something. I also had an idea for a fic based upon the books (Delena, of course;)). At the moment it'll be only in spanish. If I get enough reviews, I'll translate it. If you want more details about it, ask me.**

**Well I have nothing else to say. Thank you for your time and your pacience. Review pretty please. :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**Elena's POV:**

I was in the shower for ages. I needed it. I needed to get away from anything that reminded me of all the hour I'd spent downstairs. I needed my stiff muscles to relax and hot water made wonders with them. I needed to forget the world. If I closed my eyes, I almost could imagine that I was in the bathroom that I shared with Jeremy but as soon as I opened my eyes, the terrible reality crushed me back again.

At least Damon had rescued me. I even couldn't imagine what Stefan would have done to me when he got back, because he wouldn't have believed I was still unconscious. Then, what would have happened? No. I couldn't allow myself to think of that. Not yet. Not when I still was at his'. Because that was his house, right? That meant he could get back any moment and… Elena, stop! Now! I was beginning to hyperventilate. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself. I breathed deeply until I felt I was a little calmer.

Though I liked it so much, I couldn't make this moment last forever. With a sigh, I turned the water off and wrapped myself in a towel. A quick look at the clothes I had been wearing all this time, was enough to know I wouldn't put them back on: they were stained with blood and dirt. The only thing I wanted to do with them was burning them to forget the last few hours.

I went back to Damon's room and was relieved when I saw a T-shirt and sweat pants on the bed. There was a note on them:

_It's for you. I thought you wouldn't want to put your clothes back on._

_Damon._

Immediately, I felt an enormous gratitude towards Damon. I almost didn't care the possibility of him being a vampire like Stefan. He had saved me. He could have ignored the girl that was in that cell so he didn't have any trouble with his… relative, but he had decided to help me instead.

Damon's voice interrupted my thoughts:

"Are you decent?"

"Hold on a moment!" I yelled while got into the clothes he had left me. "Now you can come in!" I felt a little awkward telling somebody when he could come into his own bedroom. Damon came in with a huge pizza box that simply smelled awesome, a Coca-Cola and a bottle of bourbon.

"Wanna some help?" I asked.

"It isn't necessary. Come on, sit down with me. I promise I won't bite you", he added with smirk. I widened my eyes, frightened. "Please I was just kidding." Okay, black humor, nothing that I couldn't handle.

"Yeah, sure, very funny." I whispered while I sat next to him. I opened the box and took a piece of pizza to begin eating. It was the most delicious food I'd ever had. I ate silently while Damon watched every move I made lost in his thoughts. When I was done, I lay down comfortably on the couch, I took another Coke and took a swig of it while I watched him. We were staring at each other for a while. Finally I remembered something Stefan had said before, something about a certain Katherine. Maybe Damon knew what the hell he was talking about.

"Emmm… Damon." I began doubtfully.

"Yes?"

"May I ask you a question?" I wasn't sure of which answer I had to expect. He thought about it a little before answering:

"Yeah, sure"

I took a deep breath trying to be brave and at last I asked:

"Who is Katherine?"

I watched carefully the emotions that crossed his face in mere seconds. I could distinguish surprise, anger and something that looked like pain. He answered me with another question:

"What do you know about her?"

"Just the nonsensical remarks that Stefan said. He wondered how was it possible, then he said that it was obvious that I wasn't Katherine because I'm human and then that Katherine always surprised him. Honestly I didn't understand anything he said. I just wanna know who the hell this Katherine is."

"Well, we have to go back to 1864, when my brother and I were still humans. Katherine Pierce came to my family's plantation, because she had been recently orphan and she was going to live with us. She was beautiful and my brother and I both fell in love with her. The bad thing is that she was selfish and cruel, she played with us merciless, making promises about an eternity together etc.

I'm sure you heard about the Willow Creek's battle, right?" I nodded. It was a part of the town's history. "Well, you should know that it wasn't like your History books tell at all. Actually, that night there was a vampire hunting. Using a Jonathan Gilbert's invention that located vampires, they locked the vampires one by one. If you hadn't already guessed it, I'll tell you, Katherine was a vampire and was caught. Of course, my brother and I made a rescue mission to save her life and, of course, we failed and the only thing we got is to get killed by our father." I glanced at him surprised while he shrugged.

"Your own father… killed you?" I asked incredulous.

"Yah, well, we were a dishonor for him, me specially, so…"

"Well, this is very interesting, really, but… what does it have to do with me?"

He stood up and said:

"I'm gonna look for something, I'll be back in a few seconds" He had disappeared before I could ask. Couldn't he answer her question first and look for whatever he was looking for later? "Found it." His voice made me jump on the couch. He was sat on the couch again, as he had never left.

"What was this very important thing that you couldn't answer my question first?" I asked a bit pissed.

He simply handed me a piece of paper that was an old picture. I watched it carefully; terrified as I saw the woman in the picture was just like me.

"That," he said in a low voice, "is Katherine."

I looked up at him. "What?" I managed to whisper, "but, how is that possible? We-we… we're exactly like."

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe Katherine had a kid before turning, she told me nothing though. She never talked about her past."

I was thoughtful for a while. Katherine was a vampire that had turned Damon and Stefan in 1864. I was her doppelganger, as a reminder of what Katherine had done so long ago.

"Do you think that Stefan kidnapped me because of that?" I asked in an absent voice, "because of my… similarity to Katherine?"

"No, that would have been more like me." When he saw my skeptical glance, he explained: "Stefan has always been the 'good brother' although he had his moments when he was turned. After his 'ripper phases', he regretted it a lot and started a depression, boredom and animal blood diet." He rolled eyes.

"I think I know which one you prefer." I said barely above the whisper.

His expression softened. "Don't think so. When my brother is in his 'ripper phase', he's careless and leaves a trail of blood behind him; and when he's in his 'oh-no!-I-am-a-monster phase' he's the most depressing person you can ever meet. He can't keep a stable life."

"Oh, and when he's in his 'ripper phase'…"

"He's unpredictable." He finished. "Human blood makes him that."

Then I remembered how he had bitten me before, the unbearable pain when I felt he was draining my blood. "He bit me." I said absently.

"I saw it." He seemed to think about something before going on. "Elena, I know this must be hard, but I'd like you told me everything that happened with Stefan,"

I stiffened. The time I had spent with Stefan was short, but I preferred not to talk about it. "I'd rather not to talk about it. Besides, I think it's time for me to go home. I'm sure my aunt Jenna is worried and Stefan could be here in any moment." I expected him to press, but thank God, he didn't.

"Yes, sure. Please, let me take you home. This is away from everything."

We undid the way to his bedroom and he headed to the door. Outside it was a little cold and it was starting to rain. The sun was setting on the other side of the forests the surrounded the mansion. "Shall we?" I heard Damon's voice in my ear.

"Yeah, sure."

I followed him to an old, blue Chevrolet Camaro and got in. The journey was silent. When we arrived, I turned towards him.

"Thank you, seriously. You could have left me in that cell so you wouldn't have problems with your brother, but you decided to save me instead." I smiled at him.

He smiled at me too. "You know, I'm a gentleman, always willing to help a lady with problems. Besides, there's nothing funnier than pissing my brother off."

"Do you think he'll come here?" I asked scared.

"No. And if he came, he'd have to be invited in to enter." I lifted an eyebrow to that. "You know, vampire stuff."

I shook my head. I didn't know if I wanted to know more about his world. I opened the door carefully and got out of the car. When I turned back after closing the door, Damon was next to me. I almost cried out. "God! Will you stop doing that?"

"Wow, you're on the lookout, uh?" He said in a light tone. He was enjoying it! I rolled my eyes.

"You're not funny."

"Of course not." His face was serious. There were only signs of fun in his eyes. I sighed and headed towards my house. I looked for my keys, but they were in my jacket, which was at Damon's place.

"Crap." I whispered. "My keys are at your house. I think there'll be somebody at home…" And I knocked the door. A few minutes passed before I heard someone moving inside. A few seconds later the door was opened by a depressed and haggard aunt Jenna. She had her eyes red from crying. As soon as she saw me, her face passed from sad to surprised, and later to an emotion which could only be described as _horror_. "Aunt Jenna, are you okay?" As soon as she heard my words, she fainted. "Jenna!"

"What's going on there?" Jeremy's voice said from upstairs. I looked at him and he looked as surprised as Jenna, but his face lit up with happiness quite the contrary than Jenna. "Elena! I knew you weren't dead!"


	6. Chapter 6

Okay guys, this is REALLY IMPORTANT so, please, read. I wanted to say that I'm deleting this story if I don't get enough reviews. And I mean it. I've already said it in the last chapter, but it doesn't seem that you pay too much attention so I'm creating a new chapter. This story is a TRANSLATION. It's originally written in my own language: Spanish. And translating is a really big effort, 'cause I write the same thing twice. I just wanna see if my efforts are actually worth it. I want you to share your opinions about the story and to make suggestions about it. It's not finished, so a lot of things can change. So please. Review. Thank you. Rebeku95. xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Well, I'm here. I wanted to thank you all of the wonderful reviews I've gotten this week. You made my week, seriously. So here's the chapter. The next one is almost over. It's written from Damon's POV and I have to warn you he'll be a little jerk, sorry if you don't like it, but I have my reasons, which I'll explain when I update it. **

**The fic based upon the books is almost over and I'll update it today (only in Spanish). If you want to read it, tell me to transate it and I'll gladly do it. **

**Well, that's all. Thank you so much for reading this story, it really means a lot. Drop a review!¡ xoxo. Rebeku95. **

**Chapter 6**

Jeremy's words kept repeating themselves in my head: "I knew you weren't dead!, I knew you weren't dead!, …dead!, …dead!" How the hell did he gather that I was dead? Now I understood Jenna's reaction. It would have been like seeing a ghost for her.

I looked at Damon, who was still standing at the doorway behind me. He looked as surprised as me.

"Jeremy, what do you mean when you say I was dead?" I asked above the whisper.

"Well, there was this guy that came here saying that you were dead and that your body couldn't be gotten back. We had to celebrate your funeral and go on with our lives. Jenna believed it firmly and didn't want to talk about it, while I thought that everything seemed a little weird. And deep down I knew everything was a farce and you were alive, but I could do nothing."

My mind went bank for a few minutes, trying to assimilate what I had just heard. Damon's voice took me away from my daydream:

"Jeremy, how long ago did this guy come?"

Jeremy thought about it a bit before answering: "About two or three days ago, just after Elena went out for a walk."

"Could you describe him?"

"Yeah, well he was older than me, He'd be about seventeen or eighteen, but he was shorter though. Brown hair, red eyes… and he acted weird: he insisted to be invited in and when Jenna cut her finger while preparing dinner, I'd swear I saw his eyes darkening, but he told me that it was my imagination and to forget it, so I'm not sure."

As Jer described 'the guy', my mind was making a picture of what he was describing. It wasn't necessary too many efforts, because I had already seen it before, at the cell. Stefan. He had been at my house and had told my family I was dead. "But how could you believe him so easily?" I asked. I knew my family. They wouldn't have believed something like this just like that.

"He compelled them." Damon said behind me. "It's a… skill we have. We can compel people to do something, to feel something and even erase their memories. It's useful to hunt."

Well, that made a little more sense, if something of this mess had it. Stefan had 'compelled' my family to believe I was dead so, then, he could 'have fun' with me. I held a shiver.

I shook my head. I'd struggle with that later. Jenna was the most important thing right now. I had almost forgotten she was in my arms. "Damon, can you help me carrying Jenna to the couch?" I asked with absent voice.

"No."

I turned around to look at him with narrowed eyes. "May I know why?"

"Well, for me it's a little bit difficult, more likely impossible to be honest; take something that's inside a house I haven't been invited in." He said with a smirk. Then I remembered.

'Vampire, Elena.' I thought. 'He can't come in without an invitation.'

"Oh, err… please, come in." He put a foot forward hesitantly and looked pleased when he saw he could get in. "Now, can you help me carrying Jenna to the couch?"

"Your wish, my command, Miss Gilbert." He said bowing slightly. Then, he took Jenna in his arms and placed her gently on the couch. I knelt next to her and tried to wake her up in vain.

"Err, Elena." I heard Jeremy saying. "Maybe you should let her rest a little. She hasn't slept really well lately." I looked at Jenna and sighed. She actually looked tired. We'd explain her all this mess when she took some rest. "Okay." I finally said. "Damon, you can leave now." Okay, I didn't want him to leave, but I thought I had abused of him too much and he'd have better things to do.

"Don't think so." He said serious. "If you think you're gonna get rid of me so easily, you're really wrong. Now that we know that Stefan know where you live and has been invited in, which place do you think he'll visit when he sees you're not at my place? I'll be by your side until I know what to do with him." The tone of his voice and the sparkle in his blue eyes, told me he wouldn't take a 'no' for answer, so I sighed and said in a lazy tone:

"As you please."

Deep inside, I was relieved he decided to stay: he wasn't the worst company in the world and I was pretty sure he had saved my life.

"I'm gonna look for a few blankets. I wanna be here when Jenna wakes up."

"Elena, you need to rest." He protested.

"Well, if that's true, I'll sleep on the couch and you'll wake me up when Jenna makes the slightest movement." The tone in my voice told I wasn't going to argue. I didn't care he was a vampire, I was in my house and I'd do whatever I wanted. He realized what I meant. He sighed and raised his hands in defeat.

"As you please."

I went upstairs to my room, stripped of Damon's clothes to put my pajamas on and took some old blankets there were in my dresser. When I got back to the living room I discovered Jeremy was gone and Damon was standing in the middle of the room lost in his thoughts and looking at nothing in particular.

"Where's Jeremy?" I asked.

"Oh, he said he was going upstairs to get some sleep." It seemed he was going to say something else, but he didn't. I tried to play it down, but I couldn't help but thinking the way his thoughts were leading him was my little brother.

I sat on the other couch and turned the TV on, determined to not sleep. Damon sat down next to me while I channel-hopped looking for something decent to watch. One channel was broadcasting '_Bram Stoker's Dracula_' by Francis Ford Coppola. "You gotta be kidding me." I whispered.

"What's the problem?" Asked Damon, curious, next to me. I looked at him skeptically and pointed the TV. "I wondered if there wasn't any other day to broadcast the story of the vampire who wants to seduce the doppelganger of the lover he lost three hundred years ago." I said bitterly. I kept channel-hopping and I discovered '_The Exorcist_' film (the original version). It had just begun, so I watched it. The first time I had seen it I was thirteen, at Caroline's place. Then, it had scared the hell out of me and I had nightmares for a week. Now it didn't scare me, but made me laugh: when the little girl was going downstairs on all fours, face up; when she said "Do you know what she did, your cunting daughter?", or when she was puking tied to the bed, I laughed like it was the best comedy I'd ever seen.

When the father was making the exorcism, I had a doubt:

"Do the crosses and that stuff affect vampires?" I turned my face to look at him.

"No, unless the carrier's faith is true, then the object lights up and burns us. But nowadays, no one have actual faith so they're most useless. The only effective weapon against us, besides the stake and the sunlight, is the verbain."

"Verbain?"

"Yes. It's an almost extent herb that's toxic for us. When we touch it, it burns us; and if we ingest it, it weakens us."

"Interesting…"

"Another thing you should know: if, casually, you think of fighting against a vampire, I warn you that you won't have a chance. We're much stronger and faster than you, so don't even try it."

"Why would I fight against a vampire when I have one in my house to do it?" I asked smirking.

"_Touché_. It was just in case it passed through your pretty little head playing the hero. That never ends well."

"Whatever…" I said yawning. Honestly, I was tired for being unconscious in that cell for three days with no food or water.

"Sleep, Elena." I looked at him sleepily. His ocean blue eyes were kind and he smiled at me sweetly. "I promise you if Jenna does the slightest movement, I'll wake you up, okay?"

His offer was far too tempting to reject it. I nodded and settled down in the couch. He put his arm over my shoulders and put me close to him. I put my head on his shoulder (which, I have to say was really comfy) and closed my eyes. Sleep quickly muffled the sound of the film, which was almost over. A few minutes later, I was asleep on a complete unknown vampire's shoulder, where I allowed myself to forget the rest of the world.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN (1): Well, here I am. Sorry for the delay, but this chapter has been quite hard to translate. Maybe there are a few mistakes. If you see any, tell me please because I hate it when there are mistakes in something I write. **

**I'm not quite sure if you'll like the chapter or not. Like I said on the last chapter, Damon's gonna be a little jerk. I'll explain the motives at the end of the chapter. **

**Well, that's all. Enjoy it.**

**Chapter 7**

**Damon's POV:**

Elena fell asleep quickly in my arms. I spent a few minutes watching her sleep, astonished. It was amazing how much she looked like Katherine: her voice, her eyes, her face… the only physical difference between them was their hair: Elena's was a completely straight, deep brown hair; while Katherine's was curlier and a tone or two darker. The rest was identical, physically, of course. They weren't in the same league inside: how they talked, how they behaved, even the way they moved wasn't the same. I found myself making a mental list with the differences I had been able to detect so far.

I looked back down to Elena. So different to Katherine, but so similar to her apparently… It was normal that baby bro had mistaken them. It would have happened to me if I had seen her walking the street, not lying in a cell where her blood's scent filled everything and made me reject any chance that she was Katherine.

I hadn't lied to Elena when I told her that kidnapping her because of her similarity to Katherine would have been something typical in me, but, yet, I wouldn't have done it like Stefan. Stefan had to turn an awesome idea into a complete disaster. I would have compelled her to come with me and then I'd treat her like a queen. I loved Katherine too much to hurt her doppelganger. She would be a great substitute until I'd drag Katherine out of the tomb. Then, I would have erased her memories and she would go back to her normal life, while Katherine and I would be together forever. It sounded like something perfect. Everybody won and Stefan lost. Perfect.

There were only two weeks left until the comet passed through Mystic Falls and its Power would last about a month, which was time enough to get all I needed to open the tomb. Luckily Emily's crystal would be where I had left it almost a century and a half ago and the little Bennet witch wouldn't be hard to convince. During all this time, I could be with Elena, taking advantage that anyways I had to protect her from my stupid brother; I could have an advance of what was waiting for me in a month and a half…

Elena, who little by little had been sliding along my side until her head was using my thigh as a pillow, made her a bit comfortable and sighed with a smile on her lips. I wondered what she could be dreaming of to make her smile like that after all after all she had gone through. A boyfriend? The sudden thought of her embracing and kissing another guy like her, a teenager, a human; made me feel the same thing I felt when I knew that Katherine was with my brother: jealousy. But that was impossible. Elena wasn't mine (well, she would be for the next month and a half but, at the moment, she wasn't). I couldn't be jealous. Besides, I didn't actually know if she had a boyfriend or not, so I was raving like a crazy man. But she kept smiling in her sleep and I was going to die because of curiosity. Maybe I could get into her mind to find out. No. I had to keep an eye on her. Stefan would find that Elena wasn't at 'her place' in a little bit and he'd come here. And what would happen if he burst into the house when I was in Elena's mind, sharing that wonderful dream she was having and changing it if I didn't like it? He'd kill me. And then he'd take Elena again. And then he'd kill or compel Elena's family to forget her. That last thought reminded me another thing I couldn't get out of my mind. Why the hell the boy couldn't have been compelled? I mean. The compulsion did have worked, but not completely, because the kid had doubts. Maybe Stefan had been on the animal diet when he did it. If he was weak because of that pitiful diet parody, it made sense that the boy had resisted but, then, why Elena's aunt, Jenna, had no doubt about what had happened?

That thought kept consuming me the rest of the night until I felt Elena stirring. I smiled to myself. I could feel how, when she realized her head was on my thigh, she flushed and her breathing increased, but yet, she didn't change her position at all. That was all I needed to start the 'Katherine's advance' idea.

"Look, the Sleeping Beauty is awakened." I said with a light tone.

"Is it that late?" She asked incorporating slowly and with a sleepy voice. She was completely adorable.

"Who said it is late? For all I know, you were sleeping and you are beautiful. That makes you the Sleeping Beauty." I explained like it was the most evident thing in the world, extending a finger to touch lightly the tip of her nose. She flushed even more and looked away, which made her look more adorable even.

"I'm gonna have breakfast. Do you want something?" She said trying to look cold and neutral, but her pulse betrayed her.

"Sure. I thought you'd never offer." I said while I set her hair aside from her neck, like I was going to bite her. Her eyes widened with horror and slapped my hand away while she stood up hastily.

"Damon!" She screamed. Instantly, she covered her mouth with her hand and looked at her aunt, who was still sleeping peacefully on the couch.

I was already laughing at her.

"I was just kidding." I said standing up. She tried to move away from me, but the blanket was tangled between her legs and she stumbled with it. She would have fallen if I, like the perfect gentleman that I am, hadn't grabbed her by her wrists in the last second attracting her to me. Slowly, I brought my lips to her ear and said barely above the whisper: "I will only bite you when you ask me, princess."

Slowly, I brought my lips from her ear to her neck, passing through her jaw, caressing it slightly. When I arrived to my destination, I inhaled deeply, allowing her scent to invade my senses. I felt my fangs extending and sharpening, but I wouldn't bite her. I controlled the impulse of biting and I just kissed the bite mark that Stefan had left. I felt how a chill ran through her body and the initial tension was disappearing until she was completely relaxed; even I was pretty sure that if I hadn't been holding her, her knees would have failed. Quite satisfied, as I saw how much I affected her, I smirked evilly and backed a little.

For half a minute, Elena looked like she was in a trance, until suddenly, seemed she snapped back to reality. When she talked, she did it incoherently:

"I think… yeah, well… errrr… I'm gonna… errr… yeah, breakfast." She said while she tried to take her legs from the blanket.

"Sure." I said in a friendly tone. "I'll wait for you here, just in case your aunt wakes up."

Suddenly, she looked much more alert and aware of what there was around her. She looked at me and later at her unconscious aunt and said hastily: "Why don't you come to the kitchen with me? We can see if Jenna wakes up from there." She looked terrified of the possibility of letting me alone with her aunt. This made me have contrary feelings. On one hand, I was pleased she was afraid of me, it was the normal thing and much more after the little hungry and seductive vampire show had had set (a few minutes ago). But, on the other hand, I wanted her to understand I wouldn't hurt her. It'd be like hurting Katherine and that would never happen. Just like I had said before, I would treat Elena like a queen, although that didn't mean I wouldn't have a little fun with her.

"Whatever." I finally answered, narrowing my eyes a little.

I followed her to the large kitchen, where she was already setting the ingredients to make a piece of toast. Deliberately slowly and carefully, she worked on her breakfast without giving me a second glance, although I was sat in front of her.

I was watching here intently, absorbed by her moves and actions' naturalness. Not necessary to say I had never seen Katherine cooking. I had never seen her doing any of the quotidian things Elena was doing right then. She was finishing the last toast when, awkward because of the silence, she said with a hesitant voice:

"Do you like this kind of… food?"

"Actually, we do. In fact, while we keep a minimum quantity of blood in our system, we can eat pretty much anything." I said taking a piece of toast from the dish there was in front of me and biting it. "Hmmm… Delicious."

She glared at me both angry and surprised before going on:

"What about the garlic?"

"I could eat it, but, personally; I hate it." I pretended to shudder. "Truth be told, almost anything you had seen on the films or books is false." I continued explaining.

"Yeah, sure… Have you seen St-… Stefan over here?" When she said my brother's name her voice almost broke, but she tried to hide it. I passed from jerk mode to worried mode.

"Nope. He hasn't been here. Anyways, you shouldn't go anywhere alone."

"Not even in the day?" She asked surprised. "You said sunlight burns you."

"Yeah, but my brother and I are special. We have these awesome rings," I said rising my hand and showing her the ring Emily had given us. "they protect us from the sunlight, so, I repeat, you shouldn't go anywhere alone and you shouldn't stay in alone either. You're lucky I have enough free time to protect you."

She was thoughtful for a few seconds when she suddenly asked: "Why do you care so much about my security?"

I was petrified. What could I tell her? That I did it for the same reason why my brother had kidnapped her? Because she looked like the love of my existence? Because I wanted her to be mine until I dragged Katherine out of the damn tomb in a month and a half? Probably, she'd get angry with me and throw me out of the house, then I'd have to compel her to accept me near her and I didn't want to do that. I wanted that to be as real as possible. For the first time in my hundred and forty five years of my life as a vampire, something prevented me to compel a human to do whatever I wanted.

In the living room, Elena's aunt, Jenna; was stirring. I said to an expectant Elena: "Your aunt is awakened."

Obviously, she wasn't expecting that answer. In fact, she almost looked like she had forgotten her aunt's existence. Giving me one last glance that I didn't know how to interpret, she got out of the kitchen and headed towards the living room.

I had the feeling that Elena wouldn't drop the topic just like that, but at the moment, she had better things to think of. Sighing, I got out of the kitchen to head towards the front door. Elena spotted me in a second.

"Where are you going?" She asked curious and worried.

"I'm just gonna give you a little of privacy." I winked at her. "Don't worry. I'll be at the porch."

Nodding a little towards me, she turned to talk with her shocked aunt.

When I opened the front door, I had the century's surpise.

"Wow, look what the wind has brought." I said smirking. "Hello, brother."

**AN (2): Sorry if you didn't like the chapter. But you have to understand that this sets at the beginning of the first season and that Damon had come to Mystic Falls to free Katherine after 145 years missing her and I can't change that in a few chapters, it has to take a little of time, with lots of sexual tension eventually resolved ;) Please, review I promise you it'll get more interesting.**

**Thank you veeeery muuuuch, xoxoxo. Rebeku95**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry, Sorry, Soryyyyy!¡ Please don't be too mad at me... It's just I've been so much stressed in the past few weeks. So many tests pressure from my parents, etc. etc. So I didn't have time to translate the chapter, which has been written over a month. **

**Well, here I am. I don't know if you'll like the chapter. In fact it hadn't been too much interesting to write (now I feel bad for this ridicously long delay). I think the next one will be much better.**

**I also wanted to tell you that in these weeks I have thought about a new fic: Elena is turned by an anonimous vampire and wakes up just before her autopsy begins. She meets Damon later (it must be a DE fic, of course) and he teaches her how to be a vampire. What do you think? Please tell me in a review! Now I leave you with the chapter!¡ **

**Loveeee!¡ Rebeca**

**Chapter 8**

**Elena's POV:**

"Why do you care about my safety so much?" I didn't understand it. Right. I had been chained in a cell at his house. Right. He had saved me from his brother. But, besides that, Damon and I were complete strangers. The only thing that remotely liked us was my similarity to the vampire who had turned him and his brother in 1864. Was that the reason why he cared so much about me?

I watched Damon carefully. It was obvious I had caught him off guard. He was absolutely petrified. His beautiful blue eyes were fixed on me but he wasn't looking at me. He looked lost in his own thoughts. I had almost lost all my hopes that he gave me an answer when he talked:

"Your aunt is awakened."

It took a moment for me to process his answer. I didn't really expect he gave me a heart-felt answer but I didn't expect him to avoid the topic like that either. In fact, I was so focused on my question that I had forgotten Jenna was in the living room.

I looked at him for the last time. He was still thoughtful, looking straight, where I had been standing mere seconds ago. He turned his head when he felt my glance on him. When our eyes met, I could see he was as confused as me by his attitude, or that's what I thought I saw. And among all that confusion I could tell there was a sparkle of admiration, but I wasn't too sure either. I think Damon isn't the kind of person you can be totally sure about anything.

I headed to the living room to see Jenna sitting up slowly on the couch.

"Aunt Jenna." I asked softly.

"What…?" Jenna turned her head in all directions until she saw me standing in the living room's doorway. Again, her face got pale, but now the horror I had seen last night had been replaced by confusion. "Elena? But-but- I'm hallucinating again, because you're dead."

"No, Jenna, you're not hallucinating. It's actually me. And you weren't hallucinating last night either. That guy lied to you. I'm not dead." I said while I walked towards the couch little by little.

"No, it wasn't just last night. Since you died, you came here every day to tell me your death is my fault, you blamed Jeremy doing drugs on me and you said I'm a bad guardian and-and it's all true, all of this is my fault…" Now Jenna was crying. I hugged her and she sobbed on my shoulder.

"Shh… everything's gonna be okay. You know that's not true. You're the best guardian we could ever ask for." I kept whispering soothing things to calm her down. Then I spotted Damon heading to the doorway. "Where are you going?" He wouldn't leave me alone now after the little 'I-have-to-protect-you-speech' speech, right? Maybe he had changed his mind. Maybe because of my question he had realized that he didn't have to protect me.

"I'm just gonna give you a little of privacy." He winked when he felt my worry. "Don't worry. I'll be at the porch."

A wave of relief ran through me while I nodded in his direction and I focused my attention on Jenna again, who looked calmer, although she kept whimpering thins such as:

"I miss you so much, Elena… Nothing's the same without you… I wish you could come back…"

"Aunt Jenna," I said seriously, "this is real. I'm here. I came back. Don't you see me? Don't you hear me? I'm here and I'm not planning on leaving, okay?"

Jenna nodded; as if she simply wanted to agree with me to not make me upset but without believing it completely. Was that thing vampires did that powerful? Would my aunt see a ghost every time she saw me? Would she think she was crazy because of these 'hallucinations'? No. That wasn't the right question. Would I be making her go crazy right now? But she said yesterday wasn't the first time she saw me. Maybe there was another doppelganger of mine over there? Maybe it was Katherine. No. Damon said Katherine was dead, or he suggested it, at least.

"Jenna, when do you say you saw me before yesterday?"

"Sleeping. You appeared in my dreams saying that all of this is my fault."

"But those were dreams, Jenna. They weren't real, but this is. This" I said while I squeezed her hand. "is real."

She nodded again, but she still didn't believe it. I thought the best thing I could do was telling her what had happened to me in the past few days. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to tell her the hell I'd been gone through.

**3rd person's POV:**

"And what brings you here?" Damon asked casually closing the door behind him.

"Don't pretend you don't know, Damon." Stefan said and smiling. "I've come here to get what is mine." The smile vanished.

"What is yours? What's the matter? One of the bunnies you were chasing came in here in a desperate shot to survive?" Damon replied sarcastically.

"Damon, I'm not in the mood for your games. Where is she?" As time passed, Stefan got angrier. If Damon pushed the buttons a little more, he'd lose control. That wasn't normal in Stefan. Stefan didn't got angry. He could glare dramatically, roll eyes, but never get angry. Stefan only got angry when... Comprehension hit Damon. Stefan was actually back on human blood. Elena wasn't the only one he had bitten. It was like in the 20s over again... Stefan being controlled by his bloodlust, not knowing what his actions were. Yet, Damon was convinced that, if Stefan attacked, he could easily beat him: while Damon had been 145 years on human blood, Stefan would only have been on it for a week or two, so he decided to keep pushing his little buttons.

"Who?" He finally asked.

"Damn it, Damon!" Stefan yelled. "You already know who I'm talking about! Katherine's doppelganger!"

"Ah, Elena Gilbert you mean? Well the lovely Elena isn't here right now. Do you want me to give her a message from you?"

"Damon, don't lie to me." Stefan replied threateningly. "I've already been invited to this house. I can get in whenever I want." He aded stepping closer to Damon little by little. Damon didn't back down.

"Yeah, but you have a little problem: I'm not gonna let you in."

After that, Stefan took a step back, with a smile on his lips and an amused sparkle in his eyes. "In that case, I guess I should leave, right?" He said raising his hands up with mock surrender and turning around to leave.

He hadn't taken even two steps when he stopped to look at Damon again. "You know, Damon? Now that I think about it, you should be as angry with Katherine as I am. After all, it's her fault you have this life, just like me."

Damon narrowed his eyes at him when he heard that. "I think we both know that's not true. You're the one I should kill. Anyways, what does any of that have to do with Elena?"

"Don't you realize?" Stefan said going back on his tracks. "That girl is opportunity for us to retaliate, to get our revenge on Katherine!"

"How? Leaving her dead every two days switching turns?"

"Turning her into Katherine. It'd be like in 1864 again, we could even turn her in a vampire if we get tired of her. Come on, Damon, we can get what we had back, be brothers again."

Damon seemed to think about it a long moment and then said:

"You tempt me, brother, _really_, but I already have my own plans towards Elena and I warn you I don't like sharing."

Stefan looked at him between amused and disappointed, but he said nothing.

"You think about it. You have 24 hours." And with that he turned around to leave.

In that moment, the door opened again. "Damon, if you want, you can..." Elena stopped at the half of her statement when she saw who was with Damon at the porch. Her eyes widened with fear while her breath caught in her throat and her pulse quickened.

"Hello, Elena." Stefan said. "Sorry I can't stay here any longer, but I should go. See you _soon_." He said with an evil smirk while he walked back to his red, old Porsche.

Elena was still shocked. The fact of seeing Stefan again was terrifying by itself, but the fact that he hadn't attacked her o he had said a few 'kind' words to her surprised her while it disturbed and terrified her even more her at the same time.

"What...?" She began to ask, but her voice broke.

"Get in." Damon said. As Elena didn't move, Damon shoved her inside the house gently. She didn't resist. "Now."

Once they were inside, Damon guided Elena to the kitchen again.

"Elena." Damon whispered. "Elena!" He repeated a little louder, snapping his fingers in front of hter eyes.

Elena just whispered incoherencies. "That... that... wa... Stefan... it was Stefan." When she heard herself saying it aloud, it was like she'd just realized what had just happened. Her pulse quickened so much Damon feared she was going to have a tachycardia along with her breathing. When she looked like she was about to scream, Damon said:

"Elena, Elena, look at me." He put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You're gonna be okay, alright? I'm here and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? You're safe with me." Elena nodded briefly.

"Why were you talking to him?" She asked in a whisper.

"He had come for you." Unlike he expected, Elena didn't look affected. "He also told me his plans. He wanted me to join him."

This time, Elena's expression changed. "Are you gonna accept?" She asked with fear.

"No!" Damon looked offended. "But he gave me some 'time to think about it'."

"Oh. And how much time would that be?"

"24 hours."

Elena nodded briefly. Suddenly her expression was of absolute regret. "God, for a moment, when I saw you both in the porch, I thought you two had planned it and... God, I'm really sorry." Elena started sobbing softly. "I'm sure you hate me so much right now." She let out a laugh with no traces of joy in it.

Damon gave her a sympathetic smile. "Come on, come here." He said wrapping his arms around her and setting his chin on the top of her head. Elena simply buried her face in his chest and allowed herself to relax a little.

"Thank you." She said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "For everything."

He smiled a little and said: "Whenever you want, princess."


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N: Well, here I am. Sorry for this long delay. But I've been trying to reconcile school with parents, friends, writing and trying not to fall down everyday so it's been a busy month. I ended this chapter about two weeks ago. I tried to translate it last week, but I hadn't the official version with me so I coulnd't. **

**Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. They make me smile a lot. I hope you like the chapter. It's been a little fun to write, but chapter 10 will be much more fun. Can't wait to write it :D. Please, if there are any mistakes, tell me, because I hate when there are mistakes. **

**Another thing I wanted to say. Do you remember the little fic I had in mind (check the last note)? Well, I'm going to write it, because I had some favorable reviews from my spanish readers. I'll write it at the Easter holidays. If you want me to translate it, I will gladly oblige. Just please, tell me. **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 9**

**Elena's POV:**

After Stefan's visit, I was in a sort of catatonic state, where I acted on an automatic way. I didn't feel calm, but I wasn't too worried either. It was like all my worries and fears were hidden behind a shield and I didn't know when it would break open.

"Your aunt is asleep after realizing all this just was a little twisted joke of her niece and her nephew. Don't worry, she hasn't taken it too badly. The only thing is… you and Jeremy are grounded for two weeks." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. I still didn't understand how he did that. It fascinated me how he could manipulate human's mind so good.

That afternoon, after Damon calmed me down after Stefan's visit, he and I had worked on how to retire the… how had he called it? Compulsion, yeah, to retire Jenna's compulsion so she wouldn't believe I was a hallucination every time she saw me. We had worked on the Jeremy and mine joke's idea where a 'friend' of Jeremy's had also participated. I had also asked Damon to make her forget the story I had told her in the morning, the truth. After all, Jenna didn't believe the story and I didn't want her to be involved in this mess that was more from Supernatural than from reality. In fact, the only thing that was left was the Winchesters knocking on my door, stake in hand.

Damon sat down next to me on the couch. He looked exhausted while he closed his eyes and titled his head. For a moment, he looked asleep. Could vampires sleep?

"You okay?" I asked while I turned on the couch to face him.

"Yeah. Stefan's compulsion wasn't too strong… he and his stupid animal diet." He made a face of disgust. "But replacing all the memories of the past few days with some brand new ones is a little tiring. Besides, it has left me a bit hungry."

"Do you need… blood?" I asked doubtfully

"No, Elena, I need a salad." He opened his eyes to glance at me skeptically, to look at me amused in mere seconds. "Why? Are you offering?" He asked as he got a little closer to me.

"Whoa. Easy." I said I pushed him slightly. I knew that, with my strength, I could not prevent him from getting closer to me (or doing whatever he wanted with me, in short), but he allowed it, anyways. "I wasn't offering, but if you need to… feed, you should, because if you go on like that, you'll hurt someone."

"How cute!" He said while his hand was reaching for my nose to caress it with his index finger's tip. "Always caring about everybody." He said it as he had just had a revelation, like he wasn't expecting it. I just shrugged and let it go. "But you're right. I should feed. We could order a pizza, what do you say?"

I frowned and glanced at him confused. Didn't he need blood? Why did he want a damn pizza?

"Pizza?" I finally asked.

"Yeah, you're right you've eaten pizza twenty-four hours ago. We better phone the Grill to order any other food."

"Errr… Sure." I didn't feel like cooking anyways. I still didn't know what did that have to do with his… blood thirst.

Damon grabbed his cell phone and phoned the Grill (it seems that he knew the number by heart) and ordered something to eat (I didn't get it because he talked so low I didn't know how the person at the end of the line had caught it).

While we waited for the dinner to arrive, I started to set the table with Damon's help. It was pleasant. For the first time in a long time, I felt… normal, if we left the aside fact that a ripper vampire wanted me to be the rebound of the vampire who had turned him and his brother in vampires, everything was pretty normal: me setting the table with a… friend? a buddy? Whatever. Well, setting the table to have dinner and a normal night watching or doing any other normal things, you get my point.

When about five minutes had passed, Jeremy entered in the kitchen. He looked like he was leaving. Panic took over me. What if Stefan caught him? He had done too much damage to my aunt. "Where are you going?" My voice was a little higher because of the fear.

"I'm meeting a girl I met at the library." He said shrugging while opening the fridge door to grab a coke.

"What? You can't go out. If I'm grounded, so do you."

"Yeah, but that was to fix Jenna's head. I've done nothing so there's no way in hell I'm staying in."

"Jeremy, please. Stefan could go to catch you. You shouldn't go out!"

Jeremy ignored me and headed to the doorway saying. "Your lips are moving but I hear nothing." And he left without giving me a second glance. I stayed there, standing in the middle of the kitchen staring at the doorway.

"Looks like someone's too affected by the teenage." I heard Damon saying behind me. I turned around to look at him.

"Yeah, well since our parents died a few months ago, he's been like that. Just before… Stefan kidnapped me I found out he's doing drugs. God, he surely has gone to see Vicky and her friends, the wasted. In the library… sure. I wonder how long it's been since he visited Mystic Falls' library." I would have gone on complaining about my brother if Damon hadn't interrupted me.

"Wait." He said. "You said he's doing drugs?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked confused.

"What kind of drugs?" He asked as he stepped closer to me.

"Well, that day I found marijuana and a few ant depressives. I don't know what else he could have taken… What? What's the matter?" Damon was now barely a few centimeters away from me with an amused and calculating glance. I wondered how he got to mix two really different emotions in the same captivating glance.

He chuckled. He was surely laughing at my expression. "You know, you should thank your brother that he wants to escape this cruel world using chemical products."

What? Had he really just said that? Seriously? My brother's ruining his life and I gotta thank him? Could vampires get wasted?

"Why the hell would I…?" The doorbell interrupted me.

"Dinner's here…" Damon said in a sing-song voice while he licked his lips.

I _still_ couldn't understand how that was going to relive his… thirst. It was Damon who went to open the door, which revealed Vicky Donovan, my ex-boyfriend's sister, who, when she saw who had opened the door; looked a bit disappointed (she obviously was expecting Jer to open the door), but disappointment was quickly replaced by a happy glance and a seductive smile so evident that made me roll my eyes. Vicky Donovan wasn't known because of her modesty nor being a prude precisely.

"Have you ordered a dinner?" Vicky asked biting her lip while she scanned Damon's body with hungry eyes. A pang of… jealousy? No. I couldn't be jealous. Damon wasn't my boyfriend and he couldn't be either. Who was I? Bella Swan? In the end things didn't end up too good for her: she and her family were almost killed in most of the books. I didn't want that. I wanted a normal life, have a normal boyfriend, goi to the college, get married, have children, grandchildren, get old and die. That's how things are supposed to be, and that's how the gotta go on. But, yet, I didn't like the way Vicky stared at Damon. Although the worst is that Damon invited her in with a charming smile that apparently melted Vicky. When they entered in the kitchen, Vicky gave me a glance full of disdain and set the bags with food on the counter. When she was done criticizing me in her head she turned around to talk to Damon. "Well, that's all. Can I do something else for you?" I rolled my eyes again. I swear I could see Vicky winking… And, again, Damon surprised me smirking widely at her, but this was different from any grin I had seen before. It was a hungry grin, similar to Vicky's, but Damon's hid something darker and more threatening. While Damon's eyes scanned Vicky's body, the sight of a cat that got its prey popped in my mind. He was getting closer to her little by little while saying:

"Actually, I just need one more thing. Elena, maybe you should go to the living room."

What! Did he seriously think I was going to let him to make out with Vicky Donovan in my house? Okay, it was official: Damon was wasted or something like that. I kept staring at him in disbelief for at least a minute until I was able to regain my voice. "What you want to do, you do it out of my house." I said with a cool voice trying not to show any emotions.

"That's not a problem for me. We can go to the porch." Damon said like it wasn't a big deal and shrugging. He grabbed Vicky's arm and started guiding her to the backdoor.

Vicky, on the other hand, wasn't as understanding as him.

"What? I don't wanna go to the porch!" She protested while she struggled against Damon's grasp and shot me a murderous glare.

Damon stopped to turn on his tracks. When he spoke, his pupils widened and plunged Vicky into a kind of trance. "Yes, you do." He said with a calm and cold voice. Then his eyes got back to normal and Vicky looked like herself again.

"I'm thinking," she said casually, "why don't we go to the porch?" It was like the idea just popped in her head.

Damon smirked and did that eye thing, lifting his eyebrows while smirking a little. I don't know, it's hard to describe but Vicky looked really pleased and followed him to the porch with no more objections.

I was still standing, in the middle of the kitchen, like an idiot before what I had just seen. I guess that was an example of how vampires played with human minds. With a simple glance they could get you to do whatever they wanted. Amazing.

I was taking the food out of the bags Vicky had brought when I heard a soft moan from the porch. I couldn't believe they were doing… that in my porch! I mean, I have neighbors, for God's sake! I really hoped no one heard or saw that, because I think I'd die.

A few minutes later Vicky entered in the kitchen and came closer to me. "Could you give me a gauze for my neck, please?" Wait a moment. Had Vicky Donovan just talked to me nicely asking for something saying 'please'? Has Hell frozen or something? It was then when I noticed her neck's mark. It looked like mine: two red, bleeding dots that indicated where she had been bitten. Her mark was slightly different though: she had two round, perfect dots; mine were slightly irregular and were surrounded by a bruise. Meanwhile, Vicky was still standing in front of me, waiting with a light smile for the gauze I hadn't given to her yet. Shaking my head to clear my mind, I said:

"Err… yeah, sure. Hold on a second. I'll be right back with it." With clumsy, slow movements, I moved away from her to head to the cupboard below the stairs, where we kept the first-aid kit. I took a couple of gauzes and a little of Band-Aid and handed it to her. "Do… do you want me to help you to put them on?" I said doubtfully. That situation was so awkward and weird.

"Oh, that's not necessary." She said putting the gauzes on her neck ignoring the Band-Aid utterly. "Well, I'm leaving. Enjoy your meal!" She said with a last smile before disappearing through the door.

I turned around to see Damon, who had finished taking the food out of the bags like none of that had happened.

"That was the reason why you wanted to order food? Because you wanted to feed on the distributor?" I said in disbelief.

He shrugged. "If that wasn't the reason, what else would it be?" He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Did you really think I was going to fuck her in your kitchen or at the porch?" He added glancing at me, clearly amused. My face went red.

"No!" But I said that too fast and too loudly.

"You're lying." He said with an evil smirk. He was enjoying it. "Were you jealous?"

"But why did she moan?" I asked defensively.

He chuckled and glanced at me sympathetically. "I guess my little, ripper brother wasn't too gentle when he did that to you, right?" He said pointing the bite-mark on my neck. I shook my head. "Let's see how I explain you this…" He muttered. I approached the table were our food was at the same time he did. "You see, when we bite humans, they can experience two types of reaction depending on their 'donating' is willing or not." He stopped for a second to evaluate my reaction. "When the donor isn't willing the body reacts to us causing him/her pain, a horrible pain." I nodded, remembering the pain I had felt when Stefan had bitten me. "But when the donor is willing, what he/she experiences is pleasure. It's a very intense experience, that bears a relation to sex. In fact, when we have sex, whether it's with a human or with another vampire, we usually end up biting or exchanging blood. As you can guess, that girl was a willing donor."

I was processing all that new information. Now it all had a little more sense. But, yet, I had a doubt:

"And how do you 'know' the donor is willing? I mean, you have to say something like 'I let you bite me', like when you have to be invited inside a house?"

"That's one people don't usually ask." He said. "You don't have to say anything, just stay still and not fight the vampire. It's like a switch that turns off and another one turns on instead. Pain is replaced by pleasure. When vampire and donor have an emotional bond, the experience is even more intense." Damon looked now lost in his thoughts, like he wasn't here with me anymore.

"You talk like an expert." I said carefully. "Like you had felt it thousands of times. From a human's point of view, I mean"

He gave me a sad smile. "Yeah, well, that's a long story, like all. I better tell it to you another day."

I recognized that tone instantly. It's the one I use when I don't want to talk about my parents' death. Despite my curiosity, I let it go. We were eating in silence until I remembered what he had said about Jeremy.

"What did you mean when you said I had to thank Jeremy for doing drugs?"

He stopped eating and began explaining:

"When your brother said that, despite Stefan's compulsion, he wasn't sure you were dead, I suspected he had resisted compulsion, but the problem was I didn't know why. But when you told me about the drugs… well that explains it."

"But how?" I asked.

"Compulsion is based mainly on the brain's manipulation. Drugs kinda do the same: they liberate certain substances that even make us see things that aren't there, but our brain 'sees them'. If Jeremy was under drugs' influence when Stefan came here…"

"Then his brain, might have resisted his compulsion." I finished his sentence. It was incredible that something that was so harmful to Jeremy had resulted so… advantageous. It was crazy, in fact.

"It's just a theory. It's not like there are tons of believable researches and treatises, you know."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

We went on eating in silence. The two of us lost in our own thoughts. When we were done, Damon helped me to set the dishwasher and I announced I was going to bed.

"Awesome. Let's go." Damon said heading to the stairs.

"Ha, ha. Good joke." I said sarcastically. "You're sleeping on the couch." I said with serious face again.

"I gotta watch you." He said innocently and pouting adorably.

"How are you gonna watch me if you're sleeping?" I asked narrowing my eyes.

"I don't need to sleep." He explained like it was something obvious. It looks like he forgets it isn't. I looked at him with mock horror.

"Ugh. That's worse. You're gonna watch me in my sleep, like Edward Cullen."

He pretended to be offended. "Please, I'm far much more attractive than my brother's cinematographic version. Besides, I don't sparkle like a disco-ball."

"Sure, Dracula. But that changes nothing. You're not going to my bedroom."

"C'mon, Elena." He said approaching me until just a few inches separated us. My pulse quickened, but not because of the fear, like with Stefan. "I promise I won't bite you, although right now you want me to." He added while his eyes scanned all my body and went back to my eyes. Suddenly, I wasn't as confident as before.

"You're not trying to compel me, right?"

His face winced again offense, but this time it looked real. "No! I'm just trying to reason with you. You'd be much safer if I were in your bedroom. Vampires can be really stealthy when we want to." He warned me. "You wouldn't even see it coming." He finished.

I knew he was right. And I hated that fact. "It's not fair." I ended saying. "You take advantage of my fears to get your goals. Sometimes I wonder if Stefan is the only one I should fear or if I should also watch my watcher."

"What can I say?" He said with a cocky smirk. "You flatter me."

"I'm sure I do." I said while I headed to my room with Damon right on my heels.

God, that was going to be a really long night.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the ridiculously long delay! I wasn't in the mood. Please say you forgive me. **

**The AU I told you is already up. The name's 'All That I'm Living For' Hope you enjoy. At the moment there's only a chapter. But I promise you that as soon as I write the chapter 11, I'll work on the second chapter. **

**Well, nothing more to say (TVD this week! can't wait) Here's the chapter. Hope you enjoy it. I know I did! xoxo Rebeku95**

**Chapter 10**

**Elena's POV:**

"Damon! Stop trying to face the bolt!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, princess."

I could see that cocky smirk of his even through the locked door. I rolled my eyes. Bad idea. That was a bad idea. The night had just begun, I was changing my clothes at the bathroom y shared with Jeremy; and Damon was already beginning to get up my nose... As I had said before, that was going to be a very long night.

I opened the bathroom's door almost expecting him to be stanting there, too close for comfort. But, instead, I found him sprawled on my bed looking at my Teddy bear, evidently amused. "You were trying to force the door open." I said severely.

"That's a lie." He said. "I've been here with Teddy all the time."He added while he pointed the bear.

"Yeah, sure." I said letting it go. "Now, out. Don't you think you'll pass the whole night in my bed."

"Why not? Where will I sleep then?" He said pouting adorably.

"On the couch." I said in an useless attempt to make him leave my bedroom.

"Elena," He said with a serious voice, "I'm beginning to worry about your sanity. There's no couch where I can sleep in this bedroom. Besides, this body only can lie on egyptian cotton sheets."

I rolled my eyes for the hundreth time in that day, but yet, a faint smile appeared on my lips. I was beginning to get used to him. I was still deciding if that was good or bad.

"Then, in that case, you can't sleep in my bed. My sheets aren't so special."

"Who said I wanted to sleep?" He said suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

'You, dumb-ass!' I thought,

"We're not doing anything, Damon." I said giving him a warning glance.

He chuckled. "I like how your mind works. But I didn't mean that. I have to keep an eye on you, remember? Besides, you already know I don't need to sleep."

"Yeah, and why is that?" I asked him, now curious.

"Dead stuff." He said shrugging. "Don't get me wrong, I can sleep, and I love, but..."

"It isn't vital." I finished for him. He did a gesture of agreement. "Then you're actually doing it: being awakened, watching me while I sleep." He just nodded. "Ugh. Creepy." I said pretending I shivered.

The truth is that, although I was starting to enjoy Damon's company, I didn't know if I trusted him enough to sleep with him in the same bed, or in the same bedroom. It was ridiculous, given that the day before I had practically slept in his arms. But that was before he put the whole _I'm-going-to-bite-you_ show, which on one hand scared the hell out of me; but on the other hand, I was dying of curiosity to check what Damon had just explained me about _the other way the body reacts_. And that left me... freaking confused to begin.

I shook my head to shake those thoughts away from my mind and I moved towards my bed. Damon didn't move the slightest, but I wasn't giving up. I grabbed a pillow and got ready to hit his head with it. Although, of course, lately I was in the habit of forgetting he was a vampire and that, because of it, he was surely a hundred times faster than me. One moment, I was about hitting him and the following one, my pillow hit an empty bed and Damon was nowhere to be seen. I looked around without seeing a thing. I turned around, just to finish looking all over the bedroom, and I found him standing just behind me, his body just mere inches away from mine. The impression his sudden closeness made me lose my balance and fall on my bed. This time, Damon wasn't so kind to stop me, but he let me fall, obviously, satisfied with himself because he scared me. I closed my eyes once I landed on my comfy bed and just lay there breathing deeply, not bothering to look at Damon, who surely was really amused looking at me.

Only then, lying on my bed for the first time in days, I realized how tired I actually was. It was impossible to open my eyes as seconds passed by; my limbs were heavier and more difficult to move. It was then when I felt an extra weight that had nothing to do with my tiredness. I opened my eyes to find that Damon was on the top of me with an amused sparkle in his eyes that barely covered the dominant darkness in them because of the lust. I could do nothing but stare at him like an idiot. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I wondered if Damon was messing with my head like he did before with Vicky.

Minutes passed by and we continued in the same position, staring into each other's eyes without moving a single muscle, I wasn't sure that in that period of time I'd even blinked. At those moments, uncertainty had taken over my mind and I had to ask for the second time in that night (once I recovered my voice, of course).

"Damon... are you trying to compel me?"

He, once again, seemed genuinely offended. "No!" He said frowning. But quickly, his expression was replaced by a more calculating one. "But now that you mention it..." He said while he inched his face closer to mine. Before he did a thing, I closed my eyes and shoved him aside to move him away from me. But instead of moving away, what he did was to grab my waist so we rolled until I was on the top of him. I tried to sit up but I couldn't escape his hold.

"Damon." I sighed irritated. "Let go of me."

He shook his head. "Nah... This is far more fun."

"Damon, I'm serious. Let go of me or..." I began to threat him, but I was interrupted by his laughter.

"Or what? You're gonna hit me? Don't be ridiculous, Elena. Besides, if I let you go, what would I get in return?" He said smirking evily.

"I'd kick your ass." I hissed narrowing my eyes. "Now, let go of me."

"See, Elena? That's not a way to treat the knight in dark armour that saved your life." He said shaking his head. "I must have an... incentive."

"And what if I don't want to give you an incentive?"

"Then you'll have to be all night on the top of me. And I don't know if _I_ could stand all night in this position doing nothing at all..." He said while he grinded his hips, highlighting the bulge in his pants. I blushed deeply while I tried to avoid any kind of contact with _that_ part of his body. I was sure he wouldn't stand like that the whole night like that. "You should be happy." He said when hi saw my attempts (which were useless, by the way) of avoiding that his hips pressed against mines. Many women have literally killed to be in this very same position with me." My eyes widened considerably to that. Was he kidding or being serious? In that moment he seemed to be kidding, but with Damon you couldn't tell...

I finally gave up and asked sighing: "What do you want in return?"

He gave me a triumphant grin, God, I wish I could slap that grin away. His petition was simple and caught me completely off guard:

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"You want me. I'm sure it has runned through your pretty little head more than once. Besides, it's your only way out of these arms, although, honestly, I still don't understand why wouldn't you want to pass the night like this... Well, that doesn't matter. Now, kiss me."

I knew there was no way of escaping that. If I wanted a normal night of rest, I'd have to do it.

So I kissed his... cheek.

"C'mon, let go of me."

"What? No way in hell. You haven't given me my incentive!"

"Of course I did. You asked for a kiss. You haven't said specifically where."

"For Hell's sake, Elena, stop being a brat."

"The only one who's being a brat here, is you. Now, let go of me." I ordered.

He shrugged and said: "Now, I don't want to let you go."

"What? That's not fair! I gave you what you asked me!" I protested trying to escape him. I didn't get to move an inch.

"No. You know what I want, so if you don't give it to me... face the consequences. And don't make me tell where I want the kiss or you'll have to give it to me further down." He warned me with serious eyes when he saw the look in my eyes.

Now I didn't really have escape and we both knew it. Besides, I didn't know where it was 'further down' (although, I could guess it), so I took courage and I did what I was avoiding to do the whole day.

I kissed him, this time on his lips.

What I had planned it to be was an innocent peck on the lips, a soft touch, but as everything in my life lately, it didn't turn as I expected it to. As soon as my lips touched his, I knew that a simple touch wouldn't be enough. He kissed me back instantly and he opened his mouth to caress my lips with his tongue. I answered opening my mouth and deepening the kiss, sighing as my tongue touched his softly. His mouth were travelling down from my waist to my hips until they reached my thighs, caressing them with his thumbs. My hands, weren't still either: little by little, they had passed from caressing Damon's chest to tangle in his dark hair, earning a guttural noise from him that seemed of approbation.

Kissing Damon wasn't like anything I had experienced before. An electrifying tickling sensation ran through my body from head to toes. It was addictive. And we were just kissing. I didn't dare to imagine the sensations I'd feel if we reached the next base. It wasn't like I cared in that moment: my brain had lost control over my body and had been replaced by my hormones, who didn't care about the consequences that it could bring. Everything was on a back-ground, only the spots where my body and Damon's touched mattered.

I don't know how I had been able to get out of it in time, but when I felt Damon's hands at my shorts' hem, it was like my brain was given a caffeine shot, because it snapped out of its lethargy and made me move away from Damon, who, I didn't know how, was resting on my bed _shirtless_. Had I really been so absorbed that I didn't realize when the shirt had disappeared? I barely believed it. It never happened to me with anybody. I hardly believed it'd just happened… But the case is that it did. And I, as the moron I had become lately, couldn't take my eyes away from Damon's chest. Yes, I know, very mature from me. but it was just that it wasn't normal. It was _perfect_, as everything with him, apparently. Couldn't he have a damn defect?

"See something you like?" He asked interrupting my daydream. I blushed, not just because he had caught me staring at him like a mentally retarded person, but because of that stupid kiss that had completely gone out of control.

"Enough incentive?" I asked taking my eyes away from his wonderfully toned chest to look into those captivating, blue eyes that took my breath away.

"Oh, yeah, of course." He said smirking. You're free to go, if you want, of course." He added winking amd finally letting go of me.

I moved away from him and his stupid perfection in that very moment saying: "If you're gonna be the whole night 'keeping an eye on me', it'll be better that you put your shirt back on." I didn't want to stare at him again more than I already did. It wasn't like he was unpleasant to look at, it was that it was embarrassing, given that he always caught me.

He complied with no protest nor one of those remarks like: 'Oh, don't you wanna enjoy this spectacular body a little more?'.

I lay on my bed, now properly, and got under the mattress. It was comforting, I felt like nothing could hurt me beneath that mattress, like when I was a little girl and I hid from the dresser's monster underneath it.

I felt the bed shifting slightly besides me because another body's weight. I turned around to find Damon lying on the mattress (at least he hadn't gotten under it) and had his hands supporting his head. I was going to kick him out, but I found myself too tired to starr another argument. He felt it and told me:

"Sleep, Elena. I promise you I won't do anything." He added with a kind smile.

I don't know how, but hearing him promising it, gave me the trust I needed to close my eyes. It's stupid, I know, but I had gotten to trust Damon to that point. With no more arguments or incidents, I drifted in to a dreamless sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN (1): omg, I'm so, so sorry for this stupid delay. But I had tons of exams, stress, parents, etc.. I know I have no excuse. But please forgive me.**

**Chapter 11**

**Damon's POV:**

'That was funny.' I thought one Elena was asleep. It was so easy to play with her… It was almost like she wanted it: the way her heartbeat quickened when she felt the bulge in my pants, how her blood had rushed to her cheeks making her more appetizing. It was necessary all my self-control years to prevent me from biting her or ripping those little cute shorts of hers off.

I took my mind away from those thoughts that were far too tempting, given that Elena was sleeping peacefully next to me, and made my mind wander to safer regions, such as my brother. It looked like Stefan wanted Elena to be Katherine's substitute. Poor Stefan. He didn't know that Katherine was actually locked up at the tomb, alive (well, as alive you can be after a hundred and forty-five years without having a single drop of blood). It wasn't like I was planning on telling him. The last thing I wanted was to share Katherine with my brother back again. But I didn't want him to get Elena either. Elena was too sweet and innocent to resist with my brother the ripper much long, or an eternity, which was what Stefan intended. No. I couldn't allow Stefan to take Elena, at least not while he was on his ripper mode.

You see, Stefan is not usually like this. He's Edward Cullen's real life version (just like I had told Elena before). He feeds on squirrels, deer and all the forest's fauna. More than once, I've come to think the forest's little animals would organize and hit him back. I wondered if they had agreed to attack a human an drop it on Stefan's way on purpose to make him go back on human. That was actually an amusing thought.

Well, how it had happened didn't matter, what did matter was how to manage to make him go back on his introspection and opening his bare soul to his diary just like Hemingway routine.

And how could that be done?

Maybe I should call Lexi. She was the one that dragged Stefan out of the hole the last times. Yeah, that would be the better. But, although it was a perfect plan, it had one defect: the last time I had seen Lexi was at the seventies. At that time, there were no cell phones or any of those 21st century's great advances. Meaning: I couldn't track her directly, but I'd have to use my contacts.

I didn't do it just for Elena. Mystic Falls had already a story with vampires. I didn't know if those stupid humans that were supposed to be part of the Founder's Council believed in vampires' existence or if they had the weapons to fight them. If Stefan wasn't careful, just like it usually happens whenever he loses control, then people could get suspicious and we'd have the council on our heels, pressing us. And ripper Stefan didn't handle pressure well, which only could lead to the entire town of Mystic Falls out of the map.

Very carefully, to not wake Elena, I took my phone out of my pocket and prepared myself to collect all the favors I was owed.

"The name's Lexi Branson. Yeah. Blonde, heart shaped face and a stupid obsession with Bon Jovi."

I rolled my eyes as I described Lexi for the millionth time in that night. It seemed that I started to succeed.

"Oh, yeah, Lexi. I saw her a little ago. She wanted to see the Arctic Monkeys. It was a wild night…" I could see Jared grinning at the end of the line.

"Jared, focus. Can you contact with her or not?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jared said, snapping back to reality. "Do you want me to tell her some kind of message?"

"Tell her the ripper's back to Mystic Falls." It was the only way to make Lexi listen to my attempts of contacting with her.

"Alright, Damon. You'll hear from me."

"Yeah, bye."

Well, it was done. Lexi would fix Stefan while I took Katherine out of the tomb and everybody would be happy.

Now, we only had to wait for Lexi to arrive.

**Elena's POV:**

"Tell her the ripper's back to Mystic Falls." Damon's voice dragged me out of my sleep. It looked like he was at the phone, because after a few minutes he talked again: "Yeah, bye."

Who was he talking to? And why did he tell him that Stefan was at Mystic Falls? What if he did it to get someone to help Stefan? What if Damon and Stefan worked together after all? No. That was impossible. 'Stop being a paranoiac, Gilbert!' I scolded myself. It was crazy. But, yet, I couldn't help that my pulse quickened scandalously. I tried to calm myself down, but it was useless. A minute later, I heard Damon's voice next to me:

"You're not as silent as you think." His voice sounded amused while kind.

I opened my eyes to find myself embracing Damon's torso. I looked up and met those breath-taking blue eyes of Damon's, staring at me with an amused sparkle that was starting to be infuriating. Quickly, I tried to move away from him, but his arm was on my waist, so I didn't move an inch.

"Damon…" I began to protest, but I was too tired to start another little argument, so I stopped trying to push him and relaxed against him. "Who were you talking to?" I finally whispered.

Damon, with a huge smirk that barely fit his face: "Jared, a called."

"And why did you tell him that Stefan is back in Mystic Falls?" Now I could say Stefan's name without my voice breaking. It was certainly an advance.

"Because I want him to contact Lexi, an old friend of Stefan's."

"Stefan has friends?" I was surprised that a monster like him could have friends which he cared about.

"I know, right? I don't get it either. I'm far the most interesting brother." He had misunderstood my question. He thought I was talking about the Stefan he had told me about, the good brother, not the monster I had met. Damon continued explaining: "Well, the thing is that he does have friends and you should be glad he has this one. Lexi was the one that dragged him out of his previous ripper phases. She should really patent the method."

Damon had already mentioned that his brother had gone through some 'ripper-phases' before, but I had never wondered how he had gone out of it. I guess that now I had the answer.

"And how does she do it?" I finally asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. I never stayed long enough to see it." He said shrugging.

"Why didn't you stay? He's your brother. If I knew that Jeremy is in a situation as bad as your brother's, I'd do anything possible to help him." I said without understanding.

"Yeah, but you don't hate your brother as much as I hate mine." He said smirking mockingly.

"I'd never hate my brother." I said solemnly in a low voice.

"Yeah, but…" He started explaining. But I didn't give him the chance. I sat up a little to look directly into his eyes. He allowed me to this time.

"No. _You_ don't understand it." I began explaining. "It doesn't matter what he does, it doesn't matter if he betrays me or if he wants to shut me out. He will always be my little brother, I will always love him and I will always be there to help him, even if he doesn't want my help, because that's what siblings do: they look after each other no matter what happens."

When I finished my little brotherhood speech, I looked back into his eyes and saw I had left him speechless. He stared at me in that way he only did, like he'd just met me, like he wasn't expecting those words to come out of my lips.

"I'd bet twenty dollars that you never heard Katherine saying something like that." I whispered trying to make a joke to relieve the tangible tension.

He smiled sadly, but his eyes still had that sparkle of surprise and awe that made me shiver. With the hand that wasn't grabbing my waist, he lifted one finger to stroke my face softly. When I thought he was going to say nothing, he surprised me again.

"You're nothing like her, you know? Somehow, when I look at you, I'm almost expecting that sparkle of kindness I always see in your eyes to disappear and you 'become' her, but you never do, you always say something that reminds me that, although you look exactly like her, you both are the opposite."

His statement took me by surprise. What was I supposed to do now? Say 'thank you'?

"Do you still miss her?" I asked barely above the whisper.

He smiled sadly again and said:

"No. At least not as much as I used to. And if in any moment I do, all I have to do is turn the switch off and it's over."

"Switch?" I frowned. "What switch?"

"One of the disadvantages of being a vampire is that all you emotions are heightened. At the beginning, everything: love, hate, lust, longing… all of that comes down to blood, but once we learn to control ourselves all those emotions come back to us, so it's much easier not to feel anything, live for the immediate physical emotions: the euphoria of drinking blood, the thrill of the hunt and the chase, an orgasm… that deepest feeling are buried inside of you until the switch flips again, that isn't as easy as it seems though. It takes a long, long time."

When Damon had finished talking, he didn't seem aware of my presence, but lost in some old memory.

"So," My voice brought him back to reality, "when your emotions overwhelm you, you just switch them off and forget about them." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"I don't forget them. I remember what it's like to feel nostalgia or hop, but I find the… motive. I see everything from a more rational and cerebral perspective. There's this theory that our brain makes some glandules stop segregating certain hormones. In the end everything comes to hormones and chemical compositions."

"That's not healthy, you know. Your feelings, though they're bad, you have to learn to deal with them. Only then you'll be able to get over them. Then, instead of a devastating feeling of longing, you'll smile at Katherine's memory or you'll be able to forgive your brother and you'll live in peace." I said softly.

"I'm just one hundred and seventy-four years old, Elena. I have an eternity to deal with my feelings. I'll do it when I'm a zen in one or two hundred years."

"_Just_ one hundred and seventy-four years? Stay away from me, you old pervert!" I said trying to move away from him with a smile and trying to relieve the tense and philosophic atmosphere we had created. His smirk was back, although it didn't reach his eyes, and his arms held my waist tighter to keep me on place.

"Don't you think you're getting away so easily." He said chuckling. "Don't you have to sleep?"

"Nope." I said with a smirk that tried to match his. "I'm not that tired anymore."

"So you're not that tired anymore, huh?" His smirk and the evil sparkle in his eyes promised no good. My suspicions were confirmed when suddenly I was on my back, my wrists gripped by Damon's hands at both sides of my head and Damon on the top of me. "Then we should do something to fix that." He purred while he titled his head and his lips got closer to my neck, making me shiver.

I had lost my ability to talk. The only thing I could do was to wait for Damon's next move while I breathed sharply.

Damon's lips made their way up little by little on my neck, passing by my earlobe, my jaw until they finally stopped on my lips. Right then, I was breathless. When I felt Damon's lips moving softly against mine, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

"As you're not tired," Damon whispered against my lips, "what do you think we should do to spend our time?"

"Damon…" I wanted that to sound like a warning, but it was more like a desperate whimper.

"Mhm?"

"Don't."

When I took my eyes of Damon's perfect lips, I realized I had been staring at them all that time and when I looked into his ocean blue eyes to tell him that it was a mistake, I lost my ability to think rationally.

It was like what Damon had told me before: I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't remember why. Being with Damon felt right. I was inexplicably comfortable around him, and although at any other moment, I would have questioned myself that fact, right then I acted by instinct, so I made my second mistake that night.

I kissed Damon Salvatore.

Again.

**AN (2): Warning. Next chapter I'll change the rating from T to M. Smut is comiiiing! What do you think? :) Love youuu! ^^**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN (1): OMG what is this?! I'm updating?! Yes, it's not a dream! Yeah, I know, not funny. But I can't even begin to explain how awfully sorry I am. I had a major writers block, 'cause I didn't know how to do it (And you're gonna hate me, you'll see later why), and after a summer of studying and reading this little thing came, so that's it, chapter 12... Enjoy it! Again, I'm really sorry.**

**Chapter 12**

**Elena's POV:**

Every decision has its consequences. Even that one that apparently was meaningless may have repercussions on our lives forever.

When I kissed voluntarily Damon Salvatore, I knew it was a decision I was going to regret later, but I couldn't help it. Being with him felt so normal, it felt so right… Like it was meant to happen. His words, his flirting attempts, the way his eyes fixed on mine, that eye thing, his smirk. Everything in him attracted me inevitably to him. Like two magnets that, if you put them in the right position, will automatically join together.

When I was kissing Damon, I wasn't thinking, but acting by instinct. And my instinct told me 'Fuck everything'. I had to enjoy the moment, get away from all the crap in my life and forget the world for just five minutes. But what some five minutes! I had never felt like that with anyone. Not Matt, nor any of the boys I had dated in my whole life had awakened the sensations that Damon's lips did. The burning desire, the urge to touch every single inch of his glorious body, the wanting to go further… It had never happened to me.

And I knew he felt the same way. His hands wandered on every curve, every inch of skin. Everything was reduced to him and his cool hands driving me crazy, just like his lips which as soon they were kissing mine, they travelled over my neck, my jaw, my earlobes; nibbling and biting it softly while he explored all my sensitive spots and making me moan softly every time he reached one.

My hands, that were finally free from Damon's firm iron grip, wandered over his chest, looking for the hem of his shirt to take it off. He helped me and he gracefully moved his shoulders so my eyes (and hands) could reach for it again. I ran my hands over his bare chest, started planting small butterfly kisses over his neck, jaw, collar bone, chest, nipples; which earned me a groan from the back of his throat.

"Ah, ah. No teasing, Miss Gilbert." He said in a husky voice trapping my wrists again with one hand while the other one grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and took it off, leaving me completely naked waist up. Damon stopped for a couple of seconds to stare at me. I guess he was comparing me to Katherine.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked smirking. He smirked back.

"Very much." He whispered before leaning back down and trapping my nipple between his lips, making me moan softly and arch my back to enjoy more his touch. After working deliciously on my nipple, he focused on the other one. I struggled against the hand that was gripping my wrists to bury my hands in his hair and push his head to my breasts, but he wouldn't allow me. Little by little, his hand travelled over my stomach to my hips, running his tongue over my belly button. When he reached my shorts, he raised his eyes, like he was asking for permission. I nodded before I could regret it. Slowly, giving me time to change my mind, he ran my shorts down my legs. Once my shorts were on the floor, Damon started making his way up my legs from my feet to my panties, kissing me softly that burnt me up slowly. It was like he wanted to torture me. I bit my lip.

"Damon." I breathed.

"Hush, princess. Everything on time." When he finally reached my panties, I was more anxious than back when I was waiting to see if I had been admitted on the cheerleading team, and then… someone knocked the door.

What?!

Was this some kind of cosmic joke? I rolled my eyes as my head hit my pillow several times because of frustration.

Besides frustrated, Damon was alert. He had released my wrists and was quickly getting up without looking slightly affected by what had just happened. The obvious bulge in his pants was the only thing that gave him away. I surprised myself staring at it and fantasizing about what could have happened if it wasn't for God-knows-who's interruption. It didn't come to my mind that it might be Stefan or someone who wanted to screw my already fucked life up. Damon's voice dragged me out of my inner pouting bubble.

"Stay here." He whispered to me. I shook my hand, expressing my approval. I was too tired to argue or to say hi to anyone who wanted to kill me, no matter how… arrogant that might seem.

A second later, Damon was out of the bedroom and the next one, he reappeared. He didn't even scare me. "Elena, you gotta go downstairs." His voice was back to normal.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"Lexi's here."

* * *

><p>"So you're the reason why the ripper's back." Said the blonde vampire that was examining me. "Well, it doesn't surprise me, darling."<p>

I arched an eyebrow. I was already starting to regret inviting this woman into my house. It was just… would now everybody just compare me to Katherine or…?

I saw Damon rolling his eyes next to me. "Lexi, drop it, will you?"

She leaned back on one of the couches in my living room, watching us with a smile that I couldn't decipher.

"So, how are you gonna stop Stefan?" I asked to break the awkward silence that had settled on us.

"Why? Do you care about him suffering?" She answered arching a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

I frowned.

"What?"

"Excuse her," Damon said, "apparently, we interrupted something." He said winking at me.

"Shut up, Damon!" Oooooh… so they didn't get along… awesome, right?

"But you do have a plan, right? Damon told me you've done it before.

"Yup." She said getting on business. She grabbed her backpack and started taking her things out. That seemed Buffy The Vampire Slayer's backpack: stakes, small vials with a yellowish liquid that I didn't know what it was inside them, the thickest ropes I'd ever seen and a small bottle that had flowers inside it.

"What's that?" Damon said, pointing the vials.

"Vervain essence. This little bitch," Lexi said lifting one of the vials, "can know a vampire out right after been injected into their system for twelve hours. After that, we spray this ropes with the vervain essence, we tie him up, and, in case he resists the injected vervain; he won't be able to move. Then, we have the lifelong stakes to paralyze him briefly and vervain flowers, in case Katherine-two here wants to fight back."

Katherine-two? What the hell had I done to this woman for her to treat me like that?

"How am I supposed to fight back with _flowers_?" I asked, confused.

Lexi rolled her eyes and sighed. She handed me the bottle and said:

"Open it and rub Damon's skin with it."

I glanced inquisitively at Damon, who kindly explained me:

"It's gonna burn my skin."

"Aaa… so, there's no more need to pass the flower anywhere on you." I said, smiling softly at him. He smiled back, relieved. It was a beautiful smile, one of the things I loved about him… wait, where the hell did that come from? I blushed when as I remembered what Lexi had interrupted.

"Shame." Said Lexi, interrupting a beautiful moment (again). "Well, now, we only have to wait your dear brother to dignify us with his presence and then knock him out.

"Just one little problem." Damon said. "Steffy will come here by daytime. And I have no special ring for you." Lexi leaned back on the couch, defeated.

"Then he'd have to come into the house." I said. "He's already been invited, so nor Jeremy or Jenna would have to be here. We'd close the windows, so no sunlight can come in."

"And what will you do? Stefan's not gonna buy that we suddenly let him in."

"That's where you come in. you'll tell Stefan that you've thought about it and you accept his offer, you'll tell him that I'm at the back of the house, where Lexi will be waiting for him. Lexi and you knock him out and that's all." I said, like it was going to be the easiest thing in the world.

Lexi looked at me approvingly and said:

"You'll be our decoy."

* * *

><p>Lexi agreed with the plan immediately. We were perfecting it for a few minutes, and, after that; we started isolating the house.<p>

As soon as we were alone, Damon grabbed my arm and dragged me further away from Lexi.

"I hope in your plan, the part of you being here when Stefan gets here, isn't indispensable, because you won't be anywhere within a fifty mile radius." He hissed furiously.

"No." I whispered firmly. "Stefan will know if I'm home or not. Haven't you thought that he might be watching us or that he could hear my heartbeat once he is here? He'll suspect it's a trap if he doesn't hear me inside the house."

"You don't know that. He's been a very little while on human blood. His senses don't have to be necessarily that developed. You don't have to be here." He answered back. He looked desperate. Then, I did the million dollar question:

"Why do you even care? The only thing I want is your brother to leave me and my family alone. And believe me when I say that nothing will get on my way to get it. Do you understand me?" He remained quiet, he didn't move, he just stared at me with his beautiful blue eyes wide open. "Well, now if you'll excuse me, I gotta help Lexi isolating the house before it breaks dawn." I said as I tried to get out of the corner he had dragged me to, but him, being a freaking stubborn; moved to prevent me from leaving. "Damon…" I didn't even get to finish saying his name, because his lips were on mine.

It was nothing like before, now it wasn't about lust or about driving me crazy with his talented tongue; his lips exuded sweetness, like those kisses you'd see in the movies. When he pulled back, his lips were barely an inch away from mine. I stared at them until Damon's voice took me out of my trance and made me look into his eyes.

"I can't give you a motive," he whispered, "but I want you to be safe. I'm not letting anything to happen to you, okay?"

I nodded briefly, he put our foreheads together for a moment, and kissed mine. A second later, he wasn't there.

**AN (2): I know, I know, you hate me. If I were you I would probably hate me too: I promise you smut and I bring you this after all these months. The Spanish readers gave me a good response and didn't seem to mind too much. I just felt like we'd been stuck in the same day for too many chapters and that it didn't seem to go anywhere, so I just brought Lexi in... in a very bad moment. I'm wicked, I know. (Btw, I'm working on the next chapter already, it should be up in two, or three weeks). **

**Please forgive me, and leave me a little review! Thank you. **


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